"i seem destined to a truculent eccentricity, whether i wish it or no." –salvador dali

Monthly Archives: May 2009

but only if we bring airstream’s special anniversary edition (with victorinox) along.

airstreams have always cut a gorgeous figure from the outside. with this new edition the interior is inspired by the sleek and functional style of a swiss army knife. the stainless exterior continues inside, in a refreshing contemporary spin with black and red. the materials become the ornamentation and decoration. and the price tag is reasonable, considering other caravans with insipid design cost far more. (more interesting designs at the end of the post.)

Airstream, the proud manufacturer of the world’s finest travel trailers, has combined creative forces with Victorinox Swiss Army to produce the Victorinox 125th Anniversary Special Edition Airstream. This limited Special Edition 19 foot travel trailer is unlike any other Airstream ever produced, featuring Victorinox-inspired design elements coupled with Airstream’s famous quality construction. The result is a stunning and unique travel trailer that represents the pinnacle of both design and functionality. Like the legendary Swiss Army Knife, the details of the trailer are precise, clean and sure to last a lifetime. From the solid surface countertops, to the cutting-edge cabinets and hardware, to the luxurious custom bedding ensemble with embroidered wool blanket, and much more. And to ensure you’re fully equipped, a collection of Victorinox Swiss Army timepieces, kitchen cutlery, Swiss Army Knives and accessories are included to enhance your camping adventures.

Only 125 have been made. And the cost is $59,000.00 USD

front to back:
bath:
bed:
dinette:
wall clock:
optional rear awning:

The special edition trailer also comes with all these fun Victorinox goodies:

about Victorinox:
The pioneering spirit of the company founder, Karl Elsener, as well as his love of his native Switzerland, have been the driving inspiration of Victorinox over the last 125 years. Today, that inspiration takes form in a full selection of Swiss Army Knives, professional-grade kitchen cutlery, beautiful, Swiss-made timepieces, fashionable, functional apparel, rugged travel gear and unmistakable fragrances – each embodies the spirit of the legendary Swiss Army Knife.

About Airstream:
In 1931, Wallace Merle Byam built a small camping trailer in his back yard in Los Angeles. He received so many requests from neighbors that he soon started a small company to build travel trailers that “cruised down the highway like a stream of air”, and Airstream was born. The lightweight, aircraft-inspired design soon caught the imagination of a nation eager to explore the open highways and byways that beckoned. For nearly 80 years Airstream has represented freedom and adventure, providing the perfect outlet for the wanderlust that still is central to the American spirit.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Rapper Kanye West does not read books or respect them but nevertheless he has written one that he would like you to buy and read.

The Grammy Award winner, known for his No. 1 albums and outspoken statements on everything from racism in America to the banality of Twitter, is the co-author of “Thank You And You’re Welcome.”

His book is 52 pages — some blank, others with just a few words — and offers his optimistic philosophy on life. One two-page section reads, “Life is 5% what happens and 95% how you react!” Another page reads “I hate the word hate!”

“This is a collection of thoughts and theories,” West, 31, said in an interview about his spiral-bound volume, which was written with J. Sakiya Sandifer.

West said he put his thoughts in a book because “I get paraphrased and misquoted all the time.” He calls his wisdom “Kanye-isms.”

“My favorite one is ‘Get used to being used,'” he said.

“I feel like to misuse, overuse or abuse someone is negative. To use is necessary and if you can’t be used, then you are useless.”

So does he fancy himself a modern-day Confucius?

“I’m trying to end the confusion,” he said, laughing and adding, “I’m gonna put that on the next album.”

West’s derision of books comes despite the fact that his late mother, Donda West, was a university English professor before she retired to manage his music career. She died in 2007 of complications following cosmetic surgery.

“Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed,” West said. “I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book’s autograph.

“I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life,” he said.

West, a college dropout, said being a non-reader was helpful when he wrote his book because it gave him “a childlike purity.”

West dedicates the book to his late mother.

“My mom taught me to believe in my flyness and conquer my shyness,” he said, defining “flyness” as confidence. “She raised me to be the voice to allow people to think for themselves, to find their own way.”

i need a house that is lovely, compact, utilitarian and passive. via the designboom peeps.

franklin azzi architecturedesigned ‘passive house’, through renovating a former hunting house in normandy, france. the project meets the requirements of high environmental quality as it includes rainwater collection, the use of solar energy (hybrid) and geothermal energy, and reduction of raw material by optimizing the efforts to structure. the assembly of the structure was done on site with all recyclable materials from a distance of 100km. wood and vegetable fibers are used for the walls providing insulation and windows provide natural ventilation, etc.

if i could start anew with this house, i would make some different decisions about the stairwell. to my defense, i didn’t know there was a dearth of good craftspeople on staff at the builders…and, they just don’t *get* good design in the atlanta exburbs. add my naivete as a first time builder and badabing, a stairwell that shouts insults me every time i use it. which is often.

i couldn’t use this idea in the house, but i could certainly apply it elsewhere. the ribbon idea/image is something i’ve always loved, so when i saw this, i was in love…

A beautiful ribbon staircase by HSH architects. Notes about the design from creators: The concept of a delicate rippling ribbon was chosen in view of the exposed position of the staircase in the main living area of the house. The staircase is constructed from 10mm thick sheet metal. Pairs of adjoining steps connected with an oblique external side joist form a bracket anchored in the wall. Each of the brackets is constructed as a rigid frame. The higher steps bear mainly drawing forces, while pressure is transmitted through the lower steps.

this excuse is far more lame than anything ever to cross my mind, and to think i spent many years at the mercy of this ilk makes me want to vomit. i know i was not abused. but how many of my classmates were??? this telling article is proof positive how gnarly and perverse and sick organized religion can be. via boingboing:

Retired Catholic Archbishop Rembert G Weakland, who has been accused of covering up widespread child rape by priests in Milwaukee, has a forthcoming memoir in which he wrote the following bits of wisdom:

“We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature.”Weakland, who retired in 2002 after it became known that he paid $450,000 in 1998 to a man who had accused him of date rape years earlier, said he initially “accepted naively the common view that it was not necessary to worry about the effects on the youngsters: either they would not remember or they would ‘grow out of it’.”